High Note Season End Focus

The final NHRA Pro Mod race is this weekend at Las Vegas and Jim Bell and the JB’s Power Centre Pro Mod team hope to end the season on a high note…..

The 2014 season was full of “Highs and Lows” for Jim and the team, from the opening event at Gainesville where Jim qualified with one of his quickest et’s all season, to the low point where he had to miss the Houston event due to a crash the week earlier in Rockingham. The new Camaro that replaced the Mustang (due to the crash) performed well on many occasions, but it also threw them a few curve balls. Englishtown was a highlight, including a round one win and a career best 5.92. Unfortunately there were four DNQs along the way. No one said it was going to be easy especially when you consider that Jim has been going up the best in the business in Pro Mod racing typically 24-30 Pro Mods competing to qualify in the top 16 to qualify in the field.

This weekend the team has made a few suspension changes in hopes of a more consistent launch. If the car works the way the changes are designed, Jim hopes to get well into the 5.90’s. The goal is to qualify well at this last NHRA Pro Mod race of the 2015 season and go some rounds.

“There are many heavy hitters in the field of 29 entries for the 16 car field, but our car can is more than capable of running in the top half of the field. We have been struggling with tire shake right at most NHRA events after the one – two gear change and at NHRA races are typically only getting down the track with a clean run every second pass but we just made a change in our shock set up that hopefully rectify some of the tire shake problems. We will soon find out this weekend”, Jim stated this week while setting up for this weekend’s Toyota Nationals. Going into this race Jim sits in 18 place overall in the NHRA season championship standings and a good result could move him up two or three spots.

Qualifying begins Friday with two rounds, and then Saturday will have one round of qualifying. The first round of eliminations are Saturday afternoon.
After the Las Vegas race this weekend, Jim will keep the car in Vegas and compete at the Street Car Super Nationals three weeks later.

Jim wants to thank his team including Crew Chief Rob Nascimento, tuner Brandon Stroud and wife Barb Bell. He also thanks Pro Line Racing and Jerry Bickel Race cars, Rossler Transmissions, Race Pak, Precision Turbo and NGK spark plugs. Special thanks go out to Jim’s staff at JB’s Power Centre and Dix Performance North in Edmonton for taking care of business while he is away which allows Jim to go out and live the dream.

Posted by: Dean Murdoch – Speedzone Magazine